Whoa! What's happened to the old 'hood? I went to "Ridgemont," just a few miles west of Madison, in the '70s. I remember cutting class and smoking dope, but "beating up teachers, throwing stuff at them, riots almost everyday"? That must come from somewhere else...

And it does!

Good thing we've got lots of 'stimulus dollars' to pay for 'mentoring'.

Well, I'm glad that Mr Rojas didn't have more than a trace amount of meth in his system at the time when he struggled against Border Patrol officers when trying to re-enter the U.S. illegally. Hopefully, Mr Rojas' family now will have an opportunity to sue the U.S. government and BP officers for his mistreatment.

You guys crack me up. All I did was respond to the reporter who gave me the company line and you guys go ballistic. Will and Mission, and...(who's the other guy?), I was only making a case for what I remember was once called 'truth in reporting.' I didn't mean to upset you.

I'm sorry, Will, but what was your query? If I failed to answer it was not intentional, but I've been so busy with other attacks that I just may have forgot. I will make a determined effort to answer all your questions in the future.

This is becoming a very long thread, and if you're as tired of it as I am I hope you won't mind if I make the end short and sweet.

Hate crime is intolerable. And in a civilized society, all crime is intolerable. News outlets purporting to serve a 'diverse' community should refrain from injecting social, ethnic, or any other bias into their reporting.

Thank you for your explanation, Suzanne. However, as far as I am aware, your 'Fronteras' Desk includes no reporters of Somali, Iraqi, or Chinese descent. However, there does seem to be an abundance of Latino reporters, such as Adrian Florido, Ruxandra Guidi, Hernan Rosenberg etc. In fact, the Fronteras Desk seems to be composed of non-Latino American females and Latino male & female reporters only. A rather modest way to project 'diversity,' wouldn't you say?

Your report on the tasing death of Anastasio Hernandez Rojas was, in my view, an extremely biased attack on the Border Patrol agents who tried to subdue the subject as he tried to re-enter the U.S. Also, I don't recall if there was mention of the finding that Rojas had methamphedamine in his blood. If there was, I stand corrected. But generally, I find Fronteras Desk reporting to be lacking in scope and objectivity.

There's both good and bad to life on the border. But KPBS' Fronteras reporting omits much that is a consequence of our proximity to, and relationship with, Mexico, such as migrant- and drug-smuggling, border crime, and our never-ending battle to protect our region from Mexican sewage. Covering subjects like these would, I believe, make the Fronteras Desk more relevant and valuable to the diverse communities you serve.

No, I don't think I can make you understand, but let me try one more time.

The issue of hate crimes, whether they be white-on-black, latino-on-black, or black-on-blue, is proportionately small compared to the bulk of crimes committed in San Diego County, which are committed by people of all races. And if you read the news every day you'll notice that a disproportionately large amount of violent and petty (property) crimes are committed by Latinos, which is a much more widespread than hate crime.

Pretending not to see this, as you and the 'Fronteras' reporters do results in a distorted portrayal of crime in our region. The isn't about racism, but if you can't understand that I can't help you.

re: "I don't know if KPBS has noticed that there are a few that are turning every story into a debate on Latinos or immigrants,"

'Every' story? Every story about what? Everything? It might appear that way only to someone who's looking for a bigot under every bed.

Back to the article about hate crime: KPBS has every right to air stories of every kind. And they're very good at it, which is why they're still in business. But somehow they seem to have lost their way, perhaps trying to appeal to a different 'demographic.' A demographic ostensibly shared by many of the reporters of stories presented by the 'Fronteras' desk.

The fact remains, whatever discomfort it may cause, that a large percentage of crimes committed in San Diego County are perpetrated by offenders from the other side of the border. To use an isolated case of some ignorant white racist committing a hate crime against an African American is missing the forest for the trees.

The question is why is KPBS concentrating so intently on crimes against "poor, poor" Latinos when much of the petty and violent crime committed in San Diego County is committed by Latinos? It's not bigoted to ask the question. But do you feel so boxed into a corner by the obvious answer that you have to create straw men like the Aurora shooter and 81-year-old grandmothers?

Ah, but maybe there's some room for agreement: "I condemn violence in general, especially when it's the result of differences in physical appearance, sexual orientation or opinions."

Yes, let's condemn all violent crime, based on hate or otherwise. But let's also not underestimate the considerable crime committed in San Diego, and now the rest of the country, because of a porous border. Crime is crime, and let's not ignore any category for reasons of political sensitivity, as KPBS seems to be doing.

White hate crimes in SD County are few in number these days. That doesn't mean they should be ignored. But like the Escondido police chief said, "America has enough of its own criminality. We really don't need criminals from another country."

SAN DIEGO — A woman who prosecutors said lured victims into a trap set by a drug-trafficking and murder crew was convicted Thursday of conspiracy and two counts of kidnapping for ransom.

The jury in the case of Nancy Mendoza Moreno, 24, also found several allegations to be true, including that she acted for the benefit of a criminal street gang — known as Los Palillos — and that one of the victims suffered bodily harm. The panel acquitted her of a third count of kidnapping for ransom.

San Diego Superior Court Judge John Einhorn scheduled Mendoza’s sentencing hearing for Aug. 16. She faces a possible sentence of life in prison without parole.

Mendoza is the third defendant to be tried this year in connection with Los Palillos, Spanish for “toothpicks,” which prosecutors contend is responsible for a spate of local kidnappings and killings that took place between 2004 and 2007. Some of their victims had ties to the Arellano-Felix drug cartel in Tijuana.

The jury found that Mendoza played a role in two kidnappings, including one Jan. 31, 2007, when a man she befriended at a gym was abducted and held for 22 days. The kidnappers collected $450,000 from the victim’s family.

In June 2007, Mendoza met a man at a coffee shop and asked him to join her at her “aunt’s house” in Chula Vista. When he stepped inside, he was attacked by men dressed as police officers, who punched, kicked and shocked him with a stun gun, then held him for eight days.

After his family paid nearly $200,000 ransom, the FBI raided the home and arrested several suspects.

...actually, it's no effort at all. The point is that Mexican gangs commit more crimes in SD County than all the skinheads west of the Rockies. So why is KPBS focusing on white extremists?

SAN DIEGO -- Two members of a violent kidnapping gang killed many of their victims and dissolved some their bodies in acid, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.

In his opening statement in the trial of Jose Olivera Beritan and David Valencia, Deputy District Attorney Mark Amador said the defendants targeted Mexican drug dealers and businessmen living in the U.S. whose families were unlikely to report the crimes. He said the remains of two of the murder victims were dissolved in acid after their May 2007 deaths. What was left of their remains was not discovered until more than two years later at a ranch owned by Valencia, he said.

Defense attorneys were scheduled to make an opening statement later today.

The prosecutor said Olivera Beritan, 38, and Valencia, 41, are part of Los Palillos, or the Toothpicks, a splinter group from the Arellano Felix cartel that for years shipped drugs through Tijuana to San Diego.